The Clinical Research Center at the University Hospital was activated in 1960 and has been maintained through support by the National Institutes of Health. This multidisciplinary facility provides a milieu for the conduct of clinical research encompassing a broad spectrum of human physiopathology and disease. The specific purposes are to provide an environment for investigation of human physiology in health and disease under carefully monitored conditions and to provide optimal medical supervision and protection of the human subjects' rights and welfare. This facility also enables the study of unusual diseases or unique opportunities to study commonly encountered clinical disorders under conditions of supervision which could not be readily obtained in primary clinical care facilities. The Center also constitutes a place where postgraduate and undergraduate students in medicine, nursing and dietetics can obtain in-service experience in clinical research under established investigators.